Apple released iOS 17.4 on March 5, and the update brought a handful of bug fixes and new features, like new emoji and more Stolen Device Protection options, to your iPhone. One of the latest features can be helpful for many people as it allows Siri to read texts back to you in languages other than your iPhone’s primary language.
According to a 2008 study published in the Journal of Neurolinguistics, more than half of the world’s population is considered bilingual. And this study also posits that bilingualism will continue to increase as people migrate to other countries each year. This makes Siri’s ability to read multiple languages extremely useful to a growing number of people.
Here’s what to know about the feature and how to enable it.
Which languages Siri can read and how to enable the feature
Apple gave Siri the ability to read messages in 22 different languages and dialects, in addition to English. Here are the languages and dialects you can choose from.
- Arabic
- Chinese (Cantonese – Hong Kong)
- Chinese (Mandarin – China mainland)
- Chinese (Mandarin – Taiwan)
- Danish
- Dutch (Netherlands)
- Finnish
- French (Canada)
- French (France)
- German (Germany)
- Hebrew
- Italian (Italy)
- Japanese
- Korean
- Malay
- Norwegian Bokmal
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Russian
- Spanish (Mexico)
- Spanish (Spain)
- Thai
- Turkish
Here’s how to allow Siri to read messages in more than your phone’s primary language.
1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Siri & Search.
3. Tap Messaging with Siri.
4. Tap Add Language… under Read Messages.
5. Select the language you want Siri to be able to read messages in.
You’ll be kicked back to the Messaging with Siri menu once you’ve made your selection. Your iPhone will begin downloading the language you selected immediately. If you want Siri to read messages in multiple languages, tap Add Language… again and choose another language. You can pick all 22 languages and dialects as long as you have the memory available on your phone.
It’s important to note that while Siri will read messages in all the above languages and dialects, it will still listen to and respond in your phone’s primary language.
For more on iOS 17, here’s what was included in iOS 17.4, what to know about podcast transcripts and our iOS 17 cheat sheet.
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